When a mysterious object lands near the Nuton power complex, UNIT investigate and encounter the Axons, a group of aliens who offer the mineral axonite, which can duplicate matter, as a gift.

The Doctor and Winser begin to analyse axonite while Chinn plots to secure its use exclusively for Britain.

The Doctor and Jo are being held prisoner by Axos while Chinn is forced to organise the worldwide distribution of axonite and the Master returns to the power complex to try and steal the TARDIS.

The Doctor and Jo escape from Axos but then the Doctor offers the Master a deal; if he helps him repair the TARDIS, they can flee Earth together.

The Doctor and Jo arrive on the planet Solos, on a assignment by the Time Lords, where they learn that the native Solonians are mutating into ant-like mutant creatures...

Ky transports himself and Jo down to Solos and the Marshal only agrees to help her if the Doctor assists Professor Jaeger in altering Solos' atmosphere.

The Doctor and Varan travel down to Solos to search for Jo and Ky but the Marshal orders his men to pursue them.

The Doctor and his friends are led to safety by Professor Sondergaard, who tries to help the Doctor translate the tablets.

The Marshal's premature use of Jaeger's experiment is threatening to destroy Solos' atmosphere and the Doctor returns to Skybase to try and correct the damage.

The Doctor is forced to help the Marshal cover up his actions with the Investigator but Jo and the others attempt to escape to expose him.

The Doctor attempts to test his new dematerialisation circuit by taking Jo to Metebelis Three but instead the TARDIS arrives in the hold of a 1920s cargo ship.

The Doctor and Jo attempt to find a way out of the Scope but, when Vorg attempts to entertain the Minorans, the crew of the Bernice suddenly become a lot more dangerous.

The Doctor and Jo return to the Bernice to try and aid their escape but find themselves pursued by the Drashigs.

The Doctor escapes from the Scope and joins forces with Vorg to try and save its inhabitants but Kalik is still determined to use the Drashigs to start a rebellion.

Searching for the sixth segment, the Doctor and Romana land in the midst of a brutal nuclear war between the planets Atrios and Zeos.

Swept up in an apocalyptic war, the Doctor must help the Marshal defend his planet. But who or what controls the Marshal?

The Doctor meets a new enemy – the Shadow – who wants the Key to Time. And the Atrian-Zeon war is approaching an awful climax.

The Doctor is forced into a desperate gambit to prevent a massacre. But it is getting harder to tell friend from foe.

The Doctor and Romana finally venture into the Shadow's lair. The Shadow appears to hold all the cards but the Doctor has found an old friend.

The Doctor and the Shadow have their final confrontation to take control of the Key to Time. Completing it may entail an awful sacrifice. And the Black Guardian will do anything to obtain it and plunge the Universe into chaos.